Journeyman: "Game Three" Review

Dan learns that he can't save everyone.

With the first couple of episodes in the bag, it's time for Journeyman to find a healthy mix between Dan's relationships and the story of the week. "Game Three" does just that, giving us a great story surrounding the 1989 San Francisco earthquake which also sheds some light on Dan's gambling addiction, Livia's time traveling and Hugh's past. Katie and Dan's relationship continues to be put to the test and with Jack and Livia in the mix it appears that the cards are stacked against them. Meanwhile, Dan discovers that juggling work and leaping through time is no easy task as he turns to Katie for a helping hand.

"Game Three" broke from the formula established in the first couple of episodes and presented Dan with a more complex dilemma - save the city, save his boss' sister Charlotte, or save a man he has just met. Dan's struggle with his inability to save the city and eventually Charlotte is handled extremely well and you can see the evolution of his frustration throughout the episode to a point were he is trying to mentally will himself into the past. In these first three episodes we've rarely heard Dan ask "Why?", he only wants to know how he can help and it's surprising to see how quickly he has embraced this unexpected gift. His constant attempts to try and warn authorities about the earthquake were heartbreaking to watch and it's obvious that even he knows the absurdity of what he is trying to do; but that never stops him.

Dan eventually realizes that the only person he was sent to save is Alan Pratt (John Billingsley), an attorney with a gambling problem and very little to live for. This is used to parallel Dan's own gambling problems that have only been touched upon thus far and it gives us new insight not only into Dan's character but also into Katie's strength. Katie has already been forced to cope with an addiction that almost destroyed their family once and is now dealing with Dan's trips. Couple that with the fact that this week she is now meeting with Dan's contacts for him and it's only a matter of time until she reaches her breaking point. Her discovery that Livia is still alive won't help matters much either.

Speaking of Livia, in the first two episodes, the appearances of her "present" self were kept to a minimum but this week she pops up several times in 1989 to help guide Dan through his latest adventure. The revelation that she had been traveling through time prior to her and Dan's original meeting certainly proves fascinating and is yet another quirk to Livia's unusual and enigmatic character. It's surprising that Dan isn't asking more questions about why they are traveling and as much as she denies any knowledge, it's hard to believe that Livia doesn't know more than she is letting on. Unfortunately, besides playing enigmatic fiancé from the past, Livia is given very little to do. We'd like to see her in a more active role in the future.

It's starting to become more and more prevalent that the love rectangle between Dan, Katie, Livia and Jack isn't going to go away any time soon and while it isn't weighing down the narrative just yet, it is starting to feel a bit unnatural. Yes, it's understandable that Jack might still hold a flame for Katie and that Dan suddenly finding out his ex-fiancé is still alive is something that would be a bit jarring but Katie finding out that Livia is still alive is a lot to deal with when a series is only three episodes in. The relationships in Friends didn't become this convoluted until a few seasons in. The writers need to tone it back a little and focus on the individual weekly stories to sell the series for now and pace the development of the personal relationships more evenly over the course of the season. We were happy with how quickly Katie found out about Dan's time traveling but everything is starting to happen a little too fast, too soon.